April’s Books

Human Croquet – Kate Atkinson ★★★

I picked this because it was in a list of recommended books with time travel. The writing is excellent, but I thought overall the plot was disjointed. Maybe there were too many moving parts? I enjoyed the main character and narrator, Isobel; she was weird and snarky in just the right measure. The resolution was disappointing.

Legend Born: Tracy Deonn ★★★★

Fantasy YA. An exciting and unusual twist on the Arthurian legend. The main character Bree is a strong black female, and her experiences as she deals with grief, oppression and generational trauma are portrayed compellingly. I’m looking forward to the sequel.

Recommended by NGS.

A Guide to the Creatures in Your Neighbourhood – The Urban Field Naturalist Project ★★★★★

I loved this! The author’s joy in nature shone through. The small sections on selected urban animals were such fun … I learned all sorts of information I never knew I wanted to about crows, snails and more. Lots of useful tips and activities for appreciating and documenting the wildlife around us in urban centres. They have a website too.

The Kingdoms – Natasha Pulley ★★★★★

This is another book with time travel in it. Explores what would happen if people travelled back and significantly altered the timeline. It begins with introducing Joe, the main character suffering from amnesia. From there, the mystery of who Joe is is slowly unravelled. Probably not for everyone, with lots of death and murder and some admittedly very bad behaviour from a main character.

This Time Tomorrow – Emma Straub ★★★★

More time travelling, LOL. This crop of time travel books were on a Modern Miss Darcy post. Alice is about to celebrate her 40th birthday when she goes back in time to her the day of her 16th—a novel about the choices we make and the love between a father and daughter. A lovely, heartwarming read. The resolution was both realistic and satisfying.